Saying good things about Glasgow art rockers Popup is a bit like talking about how rubbish the weather is – pointless because it’s so bloody obvious, and yet you feel compelled to do it anyway. After a couple of years of great reviews and next-big-thing status on both sides of the Atlantic, they’re ready to release their debut album and if this double A-side is anything to go by, it’s probably one to look out for.
‘Love Triangle’ is a brooding slow burner which builds a delicate framework of gently picked guitars and spare but persistent bass around Damian Gilhooly’s deadpan Glaswegian delivery and curiously evocative lyrics, before tearing it down in a brilliant outro full of impassioned vocals, dissonant guitars and the sound of a single piano key being hammered over and over again. It provides the perfect intro for ‘Pull the Fuse’, a sonic blast of frantic paranoia complete with ‘don’t lie to me’ refrain, in which Gilhooly manages to sound both threatening and vulnerable at the same time. Then, just when Adrienne Giudici’s backing vocals have managed to calm the whole situation down, she loses the plot as well, and the result is fantastic. On this evidence, Popup are probably the most exciting band in Glasgow at the moment, and it sounds like they’re only getting better.